Both Bluejay basketball teams were on the court to finish out the week.ย Several things to share from both practices.
Men’s Basketball
Despite injury, that doesn’t keep Martin Krampelj off the court (Spomer / WBR) $CLICK TO BUY$
Before the getting the weekend off for fall break, the Jays returned to the court on Thursday afternoon and early Friday morning to wrap up their third week of practice for the upcoming season. Defense was still a main focus and will most likely continue to be as they try to fill the void left by Khyri Thomas’ departure to the NBA. Over the two days, CU drilled block outs, closeouts, getting back in transition, and guarding the ball one-on-one from end line to end line.
Injury Update:
- Martin Krampelj and Marcus Zegarowski were both limited with sprained ankles, but participated in most of the non-contact drills. Zegarowksi looks to be on track for a return next week. So does Krampelj, in fact, despite being expected to miss the next three weeks.
5-on-5 Highlights:
- Grad transfer Connor Cashaw made a couple nice plays to set up the defense and get Jacob Epperson a couple easy baskets at the rim.
- Sophomore guard Ty-Shon Alexander slid in and took a hard charge on a straight line drive by Christian Bishop on Thursday, then picked someone’s pocket clean on the perimeter and initiated a fast break that ended with Davion Mintz throwing down a one-handed dunk on a lob from Alexander on Friday morning
- Freshman center Sam Froling was arguably the best player on the floor on Thursday. He made a nice read to jump a passing lane and drew two defenders on the break before dropping off a bounce pass to Mintz for a layup. In the paint, he backed down Epperson and two occasions and scored going to his left and his right. He also did a nice job of fronting the post on one possession that resulted in him stealing an entry pass.
- Sophomore guard Mitch Ballock made some strong plays throughout the scrimmage. Ballock got his own offense going with a three from the left corner, then set up his teammates with a pair of flashy assists. The first was a lead bounce pass on the break to Connor Cashaw, the second was a no-look, under-hand pass to Kaleb Joseph for a three in the right corner.
- Speaking of Joseph, the senior seems to be taking to the off guard position pretty well so far. Aside from his ability to knock down shots from three, he showed off his slashing ability, too, with a nice drive and jump-stop in the lane to set up a corner three for Ty-Shon Alexander.
- Mitch Ballock and Ty-Shon Alexander have combined to shot 50.6 percent from behind the three-point line through the first three weeks of practice. Ballock is 24-of-46 (52.2%), while Alexander is 19-of-39 (48.7%).
Women’s Basketball
Coach Jim Flanery watched his team have an intrasquad scrimmage this week (Williams / WBR)
Jim Flanery’s squad was back on the practice floor on Friday afternoon, and they had the refs in the gym for an intrasquad scrimmage. The Jays drilled their zone buster sets, baseline out of bounds plays, and their press break to start the session before splitting into two teams and rotating in against each other and their practice squad. The first couple games were a balance of bad and ugly thanks to a ton of turnovers on an even more charitable defense, but Flan and his coaching staff did what they do as well as anyone in the Big East — they made adjustments, and lit a few fires — to get things rolling. The final 15-20 minutes or so were actually pretty sharp considering the start. Overall, the players ended the week on a high note, and the coaches got to put some mistakes on film that they can use to help a young team improve.
Injury Update:
- Junior guard Jaylyn Agnew cleared another hurdle on her path back to full participation. She went through an individual workout with assistant coach Chevelle Saunsoci prior to Friday’s practice, then participated in some 5-on-0 drills with her teammates for the first time since being sidelined.ย Looks like she is doing well from this video shot today
Scrimmage Highlights:
- Senior point guard Jade Owens won a few 50/50 battles for loose ball rebounds on both ends of the floor to remind everyone in the gym of the scrappy kid who led the team with 4.9 rebounds per game as a sophomore in 2015-16.
- Conventional wisdom would tell you this team can go only as far as Agnew and Audrey Faber can carry them, but sophomore guard Temi Carda looks poised to make a big jump in her second season in Omaha. Her impact is multi-faceted. She can shoot from the perimeter, score off the bounce, rebound her position, distribute the ball, and she’s a pest defensively. All of it was on display on Friday, too — three made 3-pointers on four attempts, five assists, three rebounds, and a pair of steals.
- Audrey was Audrey again on Friday. Led the team in scoring, hit four threes. Jaylyn Agnew’s splash sister is currently cashing in on 52.9 percent of her charted attempts from beyond the arc in practice. Her coaches don’t think that there is such a thing as too many shots for the senior forward. She’s got a blindingly bright green light right now.
- Senior guard Brooke Kissinger tied Carda for second on the team in scoring on Friday behind only Audrey Faber. She knocked down three of her five attempts from the 3-point line. She’s much, much better than the player who went 3-for-21 from deep last season, and she proved it again during the scrimmage.